Week 7 (May 28, 2013 Warden, WA)

Hello Mom :)

I will get the negative news over with first and I wouldn't tell you it but I would think you would want to know at least a little. I am homesick. Each morning I get up and I panic sometimes because I realize that I will not be home with my family for a while longer. I pray for strength and faith and all those things everyday. I know Heavenly Father is answering my prayers though because once I get to work, I am happy and I don't think of home. Now I just have to figure out how to STAY that way haha :) I know my family will be taken care of but sometimes I just get these thoughts that something will happen to one of you and that I will just be devastated. I know Satan is putting these thoughts in my head. I want to work hard mom. I want to think about these precious people and this amazing work and I want to be selfless and charitable and LOVE my mission. And not that I don't, but I just wish I didn't think of home so much and how much I love my family and love being with you all. I have been taught so much already though. So I guess you cannot get up earlier than your comps which was news to me when I got in the field. I was waking up at 5:30 in the morning in the MTC and now I have to get up at 6:30. Oh my goodness what a learning process just that little thing has been haha. I actually wake up automatically at 5:30 still sometimes because I was doing it for 6 weeks. It is kinda nice because then I get an hour more of sleep! But it is hard! I went from getting ready in almost 2 hours to now getting ready (showering everyday because the white hand book says to) and eating breakfast in one hour! What a miracle right? Ha :) This is just proof that Heavenly Father takes care of me and gives me the time I NEED when I am trying to do what He has asked of me. Just like you said, I have to do my hair when it is wet and so I never have nice hair styles but oh well. And I also have had to use my black rain coat lots here so far and guess what? I have not a care in the world that I have to wear it with my brown outfits. You were exactly right there as well hahaha :) Those things just don't matter anymore it is great! I am learning mom! Finally! :) So I have more things to tell just you but I am hoping and praying that I can do them in a letter because I still haven't written my other email to everyone and I don't have lots of time left. Love you so much mom and I am so happy that things are going well at home!

Oh an would you mind forwarding this message below to dad:

Dear dad,

I just miss you ever so much and I love you! I just wanted to hurry tell you that I bought a bag of dove darks the other day and every time I have one I think of you and it is funny but they help me feel closer to you when i eat one :)  I just miss so many things about being home and one of them is hugging you everyday. I am doing good though, very good :) Things are hard, especially at this the beginning of my mission but I am doing great and Heavenly Father is guiding me and is with me. I know this for sure. Please stick around until I get home dad. I want a big hug from you first thing when I get home!!!! :) Love you so much

Love,

Your Tatey Tot

One more...

Mom! :) :) :) :) Thank you so much for the pictures! I LOVE them ever so much and I miss home! I just miss everything! Oh it is just so great to see everyone and to see the house and yard and just all the fun things that are going on back home. Everyone looks so happy and just the same as when I left :) I would like to see you though too you know ;) Are you losing weight now that I am gone? ;) I really think I am gaining weight mom and I am not kidding. I can see it in my face and it is freaking my out! I don't want to send pictures because I don't want you all to see me gaining weight haha :) And it is hard to send pics anyway because of the time. This is stressful stuff. I hope I will get my act together one of these days because this is just the beginning of my life and if I can't organized and stuff now then I will have a hard time when I am a mom. But anyway, thanks so much for the fun pics :) What a fun week for everyone! 

Thank you so much mom!! Tell everyone I love them! So I know I didn't write much about your fun week in my email and I wanted to because it just sound like so much fun! But I am so glad that it was a good week and I can't believe all the family was down! That is so great! I am jealous haha :) I like the pictures so you can keep sending them :) I have some to send you too but I am not sure when I can because the time just goes by so fast mom. Those shoes of yours sound amazing and I hope I can see them when i get back. I am glad you like them. And your new calling!!!! Oh my goodness that is so great! You will be amazing there I just know it. Oh goodness Sis. Nelson is hilarious I got a great laugh about of that one thank you :) I miss our ward so much! Please them that we have the best ward ever. The church is true here of course ha but the saints are not the same! I just miss the wonderful powerful spirit and love found in DV. Warden is great though and more people are coming into the fold which will make it an even better town :) Times up and I am sorry I can't write more. I hope you don't think I am not interested in your news. I really am I just never know how to balance these things! Its so crazy! But good, very very good. Love you and miss you mom! You are my angel!

Love,

Kates

Hello Family :)

My first official week in Warden has been hard but very very very rewarding. I am learning to love this experience but I have been a bit homesick so I am trying to keep my mind on the work! When I am working I am so happy and I don't worry about anything but the people and the work and it is a great feeling. So last week I kind of went off on that experience with Marcelino and didn't say much else haha :) Well first off there is some sad news, Marcelino relapsed (which I didn't even know what this word meant until my comps told me) and ran away. We were devastated when we found out and fasted for him yesterday but still not luck. We thought he was doing so well and he was so ready! It is so strange how Satan can pull us down so quickly. I have been studying about becoming converted and I know that is is necessary for us to become converted to Christ if we want to stay on the right path forever. I thought Marcelino was doing great but there must have been something he was not seeing :( It has been very hard and we are praying for him everyday and hope that he will come around again. I just couldn't believe that he ran away after all the sacrifices that he made but we are being hopeful and we know that whatever happens will be God's will. So maybe praying for this sweet man would be helpful.

So Warden is 80% Hispanic, 20% English. So we teach in spanish and english. This town is nice but over the last week I have been able to explore it more and some parts are very very poor. We went looking for Marcelino the other day in a part of town called Camparosa. I asked Hena. Earl if parts of Warden could be compared to a third world country and she said the entire town is literally like a third world country. I knew it was poor but not that poor. Most of the homes are just broken down trailers and this is kind of gross but they smell like human waste because there is no plumbing. Camparosa is the most poor part of town and it was actually pretty scary going over there. All I know is that I would not have gone through that place if I did not know that the Lord was with us. We thought Marcelino might be there because that is where lots of people go to do drugs and hang out and such. He was not there but we found 3 new people to teach! And that was a miracle. These people are precious and I love them all. It is hard to see them living in these conditions but I think it helps me see how much more the Gospel message can benefit them. With the knowledge that we have about life and about Christ, I know these people will live happier and more peaceful lives. I have seen this already. Hna. Earl and Smith said that the work is progressing in Warden faster than they have ever seen it before! That is so great! We have 9 lessons tomorrow!! NINE LESSONS! That is a lot of lessons in one day...or at least that is what they said haha. I am still not sure yet. And last week we had 15 new investigators. People's hearts are changing and they are coming unto Christ. We have seen miracles everyday. I think it was the first or second day I was here and we were tracting and could not find anyone who wanted to listen. So we said a prayer that we would find someone who was prepared to receive the message. Well we finished the prayer and here comes two people our way: a teenage boy and girl. They were siblings and their names are Simon and Stacy. Simon was the younger of the two and he didn't say much but I am pretty sure he knew that what we were saying was true. It is in the eyes of the people that you can usually tell, and the spirit of course. We gave them a short message but they didn't give us their address so we have not been able to find them since. But everyday they are on my mind and I really think they want to know more or at least Simon does. I hope we can find them! The spirit was with us when we were teaching them and I believe they felt it as well.

We had another neat experience with a mom and her son. Their names are Mary and Carlos. So we were going to an appointment to teach a 16 year old girl named Brinda. She wasn't home and so here brother tried to give us directions to the house that she was at. We knocked on the door of the house that we thought was Brinda's friend and we met Mary. She let us in because it was super cold outside haha :) As soon as we started teaching her her son came home and joined us. We taught them the Restoration. She was intrigued the entire time and he knows a lot about the church already. They both said they wanted to get baptized and we asked Carlos why he wasn't baptized yet and said he didn't know because he wanted to be. He is not married but he has a child. We still need to teach them all the lessons but we are confident that they are two of the elect and that they will get baptized. I know that they felt the spirit and they both want to come closer to Christ. It was a beautiful experience! There have been many other experiences just as wonderful. God's hand is here and I can see it everyday. Even though it is hard sometimes I know that it is God's work and that is why I am able to do it.

I love doing service with the members because at this time of the year they are doing gardening and such and so we have been able to do some of that and also weeding and I love it! It helps me have that connection with home and I love talking with members and feeling the spirit that they have in their homes. Hna. Earl gave me a gift basket thing when I got here and it had gardening gloves in it and so I have been using those. It is so much fun and she was so sweet to give those to me. I am learning so much from my companions each day and they are a great help to me. I am so thankful for them :)

So time is pretty much up. Let me know if my emails are not how you want them to be or if you want to hear other things. There are just so many experiences and things that happen here and so it is hard to decide which to tell about and I wish I could tell about all of them! Just know that miracles are happening here in Warden everyday and even though there has not been a baptism in one year, we are having so much success and progression according to my companions. They can't believe it and I am just going with it because I am a newby haha :) We are so busy but I like it this way because it helps me focus on the work and on the people and on the Lord. And that is what makes me happy! I love my mission and I know I will continue to love it even more. Thank you everyone for your continuous love and support and for all you do. I love and miss you all so much!

Love,

Hermana Katelyn